


The Snow became Home

by orphan_account



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Animal Friends, Detective!Logan, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Gay Panic, Half-Naga!Janus, Homophobic Language, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Gore, Multi, Nicknames, No animals were harmed in the making of this fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Remus being Remus, latin names, policeman!roman, witness!patton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:13:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27347182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: 'Leo' (Virgil's previous name) was left in the woods after he came out as gay to his parents. Taken in by a part snake man, he finds family in the snow and soon learns to trust again, though he knows it won't last forever.\idk summaries
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 10
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue: A New Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Just a note beforehand: Virgil's animal references fight or flight in it's strength and speed, Remus' references his chaotic energy and 'fearlessness', and Janus' references his motherly and protective nature, though Janus himself is not related to the animal.  
> Virgil is 'Leo Davis' before the whole story 'really' starts.  
> Janus is Half-Naga (a naga is a half human, half human creature, but being half naga makes Janus only quarter snake) (does that make sense...?)

* * *

The silence was normal. Well, it was his normal. He didn't know anything else. Born in the wild, grew in the wild, and destined to die in the wild. Rescuing a human child, let alone two, was not a part of the plan. Eerie silence was normal, and the occasional car rushing past was obvious. With roads by the side of the forest, cars were normal. Birds chirping, bushes rustling, any sign of life, was not present during the dead of Winter. Cars wouldn't drive past because the road would be frozen over and deadly, so why did he hear the sound of squealing tires?

Yellow slits peered out from their dark home, hidden under the snow. Three shadows, one considerably stunted compared to the others, stumbled out of a car. The two larger figures tossed it to the ground, kicking and growling at it, it's blood dirtying the snow. He slithered forward on quiet feet, leaping through the snow-covered trees as he followed a bear. When he arrived at the scene, an enraged roar filled the air, causing two figures to rush off towards their car, while the other collapsed, shaking madly. 

A silent wail echoed through the trees.

He leapt down from his spot in the trees, swiftly reaching the shivering figure on the floor. In one quick move, he swept up the weeping child, gently cooing at the frightened thing, watching the fear and pain melt away into unconsciousness. He could smell the blood in the air, but not only from the boy. As the biting wind blew by, he began walking back, ignoring the bloodied paw prints of the bear trailing after him.

The child was safe now, and would never be going back.


	2. Finding Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was painful to write. There's a lot a bit of homophobia in the first scene.  
> I don't really have the whole story planned, just a few chapters for now.  
> This ~~~ is a scene change. Basically any time Virgil falls asleep or something.

He had his cheek pressed against the window, staring as the trees raced by. He sat there quietly, his fingers tinted blue and his face as white as the snow outside. Looking down, he began dissociating as the cold numbness flooded his senses, and soon the car pulled to a stop. Through the icy windows, he could see the snow coated forest and with it, the road that stretched as far as they could see, no houses or people for miles around. The couple at the front of the car turned around, growling at him.

“Get out of the car you fag,” the female hopped out of the passenger side, slamming open his door and dragging him out by his hair. “Can’t you walk on your own two feet, or were you fucked too hard by that little boyfriend of yours to move your ass?”

The male got out as well, and delivered a swift punch to his head before gripping his arm, pulling him into the forest. The couple dragged him, muttering slurs and hitting him every so often. He was so out of tune with reality that he didn’t even notice the piercing yellow eyes glaring at him from the treetops.

Soon, they made it deeper into the woods, and the male hauled him through the snow, throwing his limp body down on the floor. The female crouched next to his head, heel pressing into his temple while the male began kicking him repeatedly.

Looking upwards from the snowy floor, he watched the hazy clouds flitter across the sky, the falling snow tapping his face. He didn’t even flinch when the male’s foot collided with his bruised rib cage. The sky was steadily darkening, and the female turned on her flashlight, shining it into his eyes, before punching him in the stomach. He couldn’t hold back his whimper when he heard his nose crack, making the pain in his temple even worse.

“Be quiet, you faggot,” the male hissed into his face, spittle flying everywhere. “We don’t want you attracting anything with your unholy scent, bitch.”

He coughed wetly, blood staining the snow around him. After staring at the dark red that was mixing in with the white of the snow, he finally registered that it was blood that he had hurled up. He tried to reach up his hand to wipe his mouth clean of the liquid that was trickling down his chin but it was no use, his hand was frozen still, he couldn’t move a muscle.

A low rumbling filled the forest, and two eyes shone from behind the trees. The female grabbed her husband and bolted, both of them racing back the way they came. He lay on his back, the tears sliding down his face and landing in the snow, frozen solid. He tried to cry out, to beg his parents to take him back, but his voice was frozen, his silent wail echoing around in the dark. His tears tracked chilling trails down his face, and he could feel the cold settling down into his bones. He closed his eyes, voice gone, mind exhausted, and he sank down into the snow, the cold flooding his veins.

He could see his breath coming out of his mouth in foggy patches, and he detachedly watched as the fog appeared faster and faster until he realised he was hyperventilating. The cold air entered his lungs, turning them and his heart to ice. He couldn’t feel his mouth or tongue, frozen by the air and he felt his lungs being wrapped in the frost. His eyes began to slide shut, when he saw a pair of golden slitted eyes moving swiftly towards him. He could hear the terrified shrieks of the couple who had abandoned him, but the eyes gave no sign that they heard, or cared, about the fate of the two. They continued moving towards him, the anger softening slightly when they saw him sink deeper into the snow to away from them.

Suddenly gentle hands were touching him, and he couldn’t hold back his flinch when they touched his face, nor the whimper when the eyes growled. The gloved hands caressed his cheek, before wrapping around and under him, lifting him off the frozen floor. A soft hum came from the creature that carried him (it couldn’t be possible for a human to survive out here), and they tapped out a pattern on his hands.

1-2-3-4   
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8   
1-2-3-4-5-6-7  
Repeat.

Soon, he found himself breathing along to the pattern, and his eyes slid shut, exhaustion pulling him under. He could hear the creature murmuring softly, singing calmly into his ear, and he sank into the bridal hold he was held in, relaxing into the creature’s warmth. The voice cooed to him gently, easing him into a soft slumber, and with it, brought upon the events that would change the boy known as Leo Davis forever.

~~~

Leo pried his eyes open, wincing as his sore muscles screamed bloody murder at him. He turned his head to the side, knowing anything was better than forcing his body to sit up, and took in his surroundings. The cave he was hidden in was lit with the dim glow of a fire, and he could hear the same humming that had eased him to sleep previously. He watched as the creature went around, tending to things on the shelves, and when it began to turn towards him, he shut his eyes loosely, falling back into a fake sleep. 

The creature’s shadow fell across his eyes, and he barely withheld the flinch that threatened to attack. A damp towel was placed across his eyes and upper face, and he sighed, relaxing entirely into the straw mattress under him. The hand moved away, resting by his fingers, and a voice called out softly.

“Are you awake, little one?”

He couldn’t hold back his flinch this time, and his aching muscles creaked in pain as he sat bolt upright, apologies flying out of his mouth.

“I didn’t mean to intrude!” Leo panicked, hands shaking as he brought his arms around his head. “I will leave immediately! I don’t have money to pay you back for this, but I promise that I can get some for you if you-”

A pair of hands wrapped around his wrists, gently pulling them away from the defensive position they had taken up. His muscles were groaning, so sore that they couldn’t hold Leo up anymore. He began to cry, a sound of pure despair filling the cave, and the hands pulled him into their warm embrace, one rubbing soothing circles into his back while the other carded through his hair. He shook violently, unsure of why the creature was being so kind to him. His vision was blurred with tears, but he could still feel the hand wipe them away once he started shifting in its hold.

He looked towards the hand, neck too sore to look up, and realized that there were patches of scales starting from its fingertips, leading up in small patches up its arm, growing bigger as it went higher. Leo gingerly lifted his hand, touching the scales on its forearm, an unspoken question hanging in the air from that small action. The creature huffed a small sigh, tucking Leo’s head under its chin before its sleeves up to its shoulders, revealing smooth snake scales that wrapped around most of the upper arm.

“You know those stories people hear about strange hybrid-like creatures?” its soft voice rang like wind chimes in Leo’s ears, soothing him with their song. He nodded, leaning into the creature’s embrace. “People who have half the properties of an animal. Do you know what a naga is?” 

A nod. 

“I am half naga, so I don’t have half a snake body. As you can tell, my legs are right here,” it tapped its lap, where Leo was sitting on, and when he noticed, a rosy flush filled his cheeks. “But I still have the scales on half my body, mainly my limbs. The left side of my body has patches of scales, but aside from that, I am as human as a naga can get. So how about we get you some tea, and we can introduce ourselves properly, hm?”

Leo nodded, already missing the warmth when the creature propped him up against the wall. He scrubbed his eyes, hiding a wince as he touched a bruise. Soon the creature came back, and handed him a steaming mug, the faint smell of jasmine wafting to his nose.

“I smell your anxiety from miles away, so I’m going to start us off,” the creature placed down the mug before backing away a few steps and sitting, trying to be as non threatening as possible. “Hi, my name is Janus, but in the company of anyone you don’t know, use Deceit. I have no last name, and my have no specific pronouns, but stick to he/him and they/them. Bitch/bitches are also pronouns if you want to use that. This annoying one here-”

A brown bear turned their large head around when Janus pointed at it, and made a gentle chuffing noise before lumbering over, flopping to the floor in a dramatic act of heartbreak.

“Is a dramatic lil girl called Brunneis. It’s a Latin word for Brown, since she’s a brown bear. I don’t know why humans name us like this, geez,” Janus gave a loving scratch to Brunneis’ chin, giving rough pats before turning back to Leo. “So what are your pronouns, and what is your name?”

Leo went to say something, looking nervously at the floor, when Janus touched his chin with a hand, tilting it upwards. He startled backwards slightly before freezing, watching the naga carefully. 

“I want you to think carefully. I don’t know the name you had when you were with them, but it’s gonna be different here,” his hand retracted. “You can leave that all behind right now, and tell me what you want to be named, what you want to be. It’s your choice, and your name will never have to be permanent, okay?”

Once he gave a soft nod, Leo saw Janus’ hand reach up, and before he could flinch, it tapped the end of his nose like a button, and he blinked, confused but now distracted. Janus merely smiled warmly.

“U-um,” he began to fidget with his hoodie zipper. “My p-preferred pronouns are he/him, and I- my name is, um,” he sat still, thinking silently in a ball. “I think I want my name to be, um, V-virgil…”

The newly named Virgil trailed off, unable to meet Janus’ eyes. 

“That’s a lovely name,” Janus nudged the mug towards him, motioning for him to take a sip. “I’m proud of you, it’s hard to do that on the spot. Virgil. It suits you.”

Brunneis turned towards the cave entrance, nose twitching before shuffling away from Virgil, dragging Janus ungracefully out of the way. A snowy grey she-wolf poked her head around the edge of the entrance, nodding at Janus before locking eyes with Virgil. She slowly trotted over, nosing at the unusually calm boy before circling him. She soon found a comfortable spot behind Virgil, nudging him backwards until he was leaning on her. She hooked a claw carefully on his jeans, moving Virgil into a comfier position, cuddling around his small figure. 

Janus smiled, watching as the motherly wolf nursed the child she lay claim on to sleep, and decided to finish introducing her later on. He headed out with Brunneis, both stalking out to go hunt some food for dinner. According to science, a bear would usually be hibernating in winter along with various other creatures, but despite the nature of the forest, something upset the usual balance. Having a half-human-half-naga would probably do that to you. 

~~~

Virgil sat still, cross-legged as he stared down the wolf opposite him that was mimicking his position. He stared as she stayed still on her hind quarters, both watching each other intently. Janus was in the background snickering at the two while he brushed out matts in Brunneis’ fur.

“Have you chosen a name for her-” Janus stopped talking with a shit-eating grin when Virgil violently turned his head towards him, anger clear on his face when he seemed to catch himself. Something akin to fear flashed in Virgil’s eyes before he turned to face the she-wolf again.

He kept examining her, taking in her frosty eyes and her pale fur, hunching over again as he retreated into his thoughts. She made her way over, nudging him until he sat up straight again, and he sighed. A wolf being a mother hen. Virgil reached a hand forward, feeling the soft fur under his palm. He quietly dusted some snow off the gentle beast, thinking back to the short lesson on latin he had from the language obsessed teacher.

“Nix,” Janus looked up when he spoke, though Virgil didn’t take notice. “I’ll call her Nix. It’s the latin word for snow.”

Janus smiled, sighing gently before he turned back towards Brunneis, shuffling closer to Virgil. He could see the teen tense up, but Nix didn’t let him fear Janus for long, laying herself down in between the two, licking her paws quietly. Janus sat down with Nix, leaving her there like a table in between the two while Brunneis lumbered over, flopping down in front of Nix with the grace of a dog in ice skates.

The two had a short staring contest before they lapsed into a comfortable silence, Nix’s nose twitching when Brunneis huffed a bunch of air into her face. 

Virgil wasn’t better yet, but he thought he might learn to love his new family. 

~~~

He lied. He hated everything, he hated how he couldn’t stop himself from flinching each time Janus moved within his line of sight, every time anything at all tapped his head, and he hated that the pain didn’t seem to fade. While he knew his bruises and cracked bones were already better, he couldn’t shake the pounding in his head, nor the memories flying through his mind. 

Virgil tucked his knees into his chest, grateful that his ribcage was cracked, and he rocked back and forth, telling himself that he was safe there on repeat. It felt like even in the afterlife, his parents managed to ruin his life. He heard a shuffle behind him, and whipped his head around, ignoring the stabbing pain as he looked at the shadow in the entrance. 

The shadow grew longer as it stumbled into the cave, and soon afterward, a snow covered Nix shook herself off, the snow flying everywhere in the room as she set a rabbit down by the fire. Brunneis appeared with a mouthful of fish soon after, Janus brushing away the twigs in her fur. With a quick hello, he made his way slowly across the room, not making eye contact with Virgil to make him feel that slight bit safer. Brunneis merely ignored him, choosing to dump all the fish in a pile in the corner.

Nix curled her body around Virgil once she had warmed up enough, her fur tickling Virgil’s arms. She gingerly licked at Virgil’s hair, comforting him in the distinctly animal way she had. Janus threw another log onto the fire, cringing at the way Virgil flinched before he moved over, staying in Virgil’s line of sight at all times. Brunneis sat against a wall, merely observing her human interact with another. Nix gave a small, comforting nudge for Virgil before laying back down, choosing to let the two communicate in the way humans did.

Janus gave a small smile, turning around to grab the rabbit off the fire, moving slowly as he did. He grabbed a pot, cutting up the rabbit into a few even pieces and throwing them in with the boiling water. The organs and bones were laid in a bowl that was slid over to Nix, Brunneis preferring the fish. Virgil jolted when he heard the crunch of bones between Nix’s teeth, avoiding looking at the mess as much as he could.

The silence stretched across the time it took for the rabbit stew to cook. By the time it was done, Nix was already bored of gnawing on her bone and had taken to nibbling at Virgil’s pants, Brunneis was on her third fish, and Janus was sitting in comfortable silence as he finished rewrapping the dirty bandages on Virgil’s shoulder. He moved his hand to tuck Virgil’s hair behind his ear so that it didn’t get any bruise salve in it, but Virgil flinched back, his hair hiding his eyes. Nix immediately reacted, placing a paw on his thigh as she licked his hair, careful of his bruises. Janus muttered a soft apology before he continued to rub the salve into his cheek and ribcage.

Nix gave Janus a thankful lick, wrapping herself around Virgil once more as Janus handed him a bowl of the soup. Settling into a comfortable silence, the two ate their soup, neither human was willing to start a conversation. It had become a repetitive cycle for the both of them, but Janus knew he was getting better. He could see the look in Virgil’s eye. When he was dropped in the snow, his eyes were dull, he couldn’t pretend that his parents might have loved him that day, and his hope had turned his eyes dark, but that light had returned a few days ago, the day that Virgil named Nix, the day he knew that he was safe with Janus. But it would take time to stop flinching, and even longer to learn to trust humans again. The best first step was to learn to trust in Janus and he knew that Nix would be with him the whole way. 

Nix soon decided that it was too late for measly humans to be awake at this time of night, and began to bark at both of them, nudging Virgil back onto his mattress while Brunneis simply picked up Janus by his cloak, ignoring the vaguely offended noise that came out of his mouth. With a tap of her paw, Brunneis stomped out the fire, plunging the group into a welcome darkness. Virgil lay still, thinking whether or not he should say it, Nix still cuddled up behind him. 

“Goodnight Janus.”

Virgil immediately turned over, tucking his face into Nix’s fur as he pulled his blanket over himself, Nix simply placing a paw around him, surrounding him in her comforting presence. He could hear Janus’ breath catch after he spoke and he tensed, not knowing how the naga would react. Brunneis could be heard shuffling around when Janus spoke up.

“Goodnight, Virgil.”

Nix could feel the way Virgil melted with relief and she sighed. It took her human a few days to get to this point, but now they were there it was all worth it. She licked his head one more time before she closed her eyes, resigning herself to the arms of sleep. Her human would be fine as long as she was around.

Brunneis could feel the joy radiating off her human when the new one whispered those strange words. She didn’t really care, being tired after eating that much fish in one setting, and simply gave her human a short grunt before she lay down to sleep. She threw a paw over his side and sighed, humans really were too complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. not a chapter cos im shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whoops

sorry this isn't a chapterrrrr. 

i realised halfway through chapter two that eventually this would have stopped somewhere weird anyway since i didnt have the whole thing planned. 

next time im trying to do a multi-chapter story, i'll start off by finishing several chapters first before posting the first one. that would be the best plan considering the way i work lmao. 

once again, sorry for anyone who was actually interested in the story. i think i'll keep the work up for a while though, in case i get a random idea that could get included or whatever. 

i might work on a fanfic from a different fandom soon, though it might just end up the same. 

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting on Ao3! Hope that this work was good, and let me know if you want another chapter in the comments! I won't be posting on any set schedule but you will know if I intend on abandoning this work. Also this is just the prologue, which is why it's so short, I'm posting the 'first' chapter after this. Cheers, Author.


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